Rumplesnow
by Chelzie
Summary: A father makes a promise about his daughter's abilities that she cannot possibly keep, at least not without some help. A re-telling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Rumplestiltskin, taking place in District 4 of the HG universe. Written for the THG Fairytale Challenge.


Once upon a time, in a district by the sea, lived a trawler. He was very poor, but had a beautiful daughter named Annie. Now it just so happened that one day, the trawler spoke with the queen during a royal visit. In order to make himself appear of more importance, he said to her, "Queen Alma, my daughter Annie can spin fishing nets into gold."

The queen said to the trawler, "Can she now? Well, that is definitely a skill I find pleasing! If your daughter is indeed as adept as you say, bring her to my palace tomorrow, and I will put her to the test."

When young Annie was brought before her, scared out of her wits, Queen Alma took her into a room filled with fishing nets, gave her a spinning wheel and a reel, and said, "Now set to work, young maiden. If by morning light you have not spun these nets into gold, you must die."

The queen turned and closed the door behind her, which was followed by the soft click of a lock. There sat the poor trawler's daughter, completely alone, with no idea what to do next. She began tying knots in the netting, having no clue as to how it could possibly be spun into gold. Knowing she would likely be dead by morning, she began to weep uncontrollably.

All of a sudden, the door opened and in walked a little white-haired man, with a rose the color of pure driven snow pinned to his lapel. "Good evening, Mistress Annie. Why are you crying?"

"Woe is me," the girl wailed, "I have to spin these nets into gold, and I have no idea how to do it!"

"What will you give me," he countered, "If I do it for you?"

"This dried flower," said the girl. "It's a token from my village; my father gave it to me just before bringing me here."

The little man took the flower and seated himself in front of the wheel. He placed some netting on the reel and after a few whirs and clicks, it was full. He put another on, and repeated the same process, over and over throughout the night, until not a string of netting was left and the room was filled with gold. As soon as he was finished, he left without a word, vanishing into the night.

By daybreak, Queen Alma was already there with her son, Prince Finnick, assuming the girl had not been successful. But upon seeing the gold, she was astonished and delighted, but also somewhat skeptical. The queen had the girl taken into another room full of netting, this one much larger, and ordered her to spin everything into gold overnight; otherwise she would pay with her life. The girl was once again helpless and crying, when the door opened and the little man with the rose appeared for a second time.

"What will you give me if I spin those nets into gold for you?"

"This bracelet," answered the girl, fingering the rope decoration around her wrist.

The little man took the bracelet, and again began to crank the wheel. By morning, all of the netting had been spun into shimmering gold.

Queen Alma rejoiced beyond belief at the sight, but still had her doubts that this was in fact real. So she took the trawler's daughter into a third room full of netting and said, "You must spin all of this, too, in the course of one night. But if you succeed, my son shall take you as his wife."

Prince Finnick was shocked by his mother's proclamation. Even though he had only known Annie for a few short days, her steadfastness had crept up on him, not to mention her eyes, which were as green as the sea. The queen also knew that having Annie as his princess would someday make Finnick the richest man in all the world.

When the girl was alone, the dwarf came again for a third time, and said, "What will you give me if I spin these nets for you this time also?"

"I have nothing left to give!" Annie cried.

"Then promise me, if you become royalty, you will give me your firstborn child."

_Who knows if or when that will happen_, thought the girl, and, not knowing how else to get herself out of this predicament, she solemnly promised him what he asked. Smiling gleefully, the dwarf quickly spun all of the netting into more gold than anyone had ever seen.

When Queen Alma and her son arrived the next morning and found the room filled with treasure, Prince Finnick fulfilled his mother's promise and took Annie's hand in marriage, and the trawler's pretty daughter became a princess.

* * *

Two years later, the Prince and Princess brought a handsome son into the world, who they named Finnick II, after his father. In her joy over becoming a mother, Annie had no recollection of her past promise. A few nights after giving birth, the little gnome strode into her room in the palace. "Now give me what you promised!" he demanded.

Annie was horrified by his presence, and offered him all of the riches available to her if he would spare her child. But the man refused, saying, "Absolutely not. A live being is much more valuable to me than any trinkets you have!"

The princess began to sob openly, holding the newborn babe to her breast, and the dwarf took pity on her.

"I will give you three days," he explained. "If by the end of that time you are able to guess my name, I will vacate your promise and you may keep your son." He then vanished as quickly as he appeared.

The princess held her son close the rest of that night, trying to recall all of the names she had ever heard, and went so far as to send Finnick's head footman, Chaff, throughout the districts to inquire about any other uncommon names. When the little man appeared the next day, she began with Cato, Marvel, Brutus, and said every name that came to mind, one after another, but to each one, he answered, "That is not my name."

On the second day, she queried members of the lower court for additional names, which she repeated to him at his next appearance. Some of them were common, and others not so much.

"Is your name Seneca? Or Cinna? Perhaps Templesmith, or maybe even Buttercup?" she asked. But to each one, his answer was still the same, "That is not my name."

On the third day, Chaff returned to her again and said, "I'm sorry, your Highness, but I have not uncovered a single new name. But as I was returning, I came upon a glen at the end of the forest, where the squirrels and rabbits are plentiful. I saw a little cabin next to a lake and out front was a gnome, jumping around in front of a cauldron set over an open fire. As he danced around, he was singing a little song :

_'Today I stew, tomorrow I sow,_

_the next I'll reap the Royal child!_

_I shall not fail since no one knows_

_that Rumplesnow is how I'm styled!'"_

At hearing this news, Annie was so overcome with emotion that she pulled Chaff into a warm embrace, professing her thanks over and over again before he made his exit. And later, when the imp appeared for the final time, he asked, "Now, Princess Annie, tell me, what is my name?"

At first she asked, "Is your name Plutarch?"

"No."

"Is your name Haymitch?"

"No."

"Then… perhaps your name is Rumplesnow?" she said with a smirk.

"How did you find out my secret? The devil must have told you!" the little man shrieked, his attempts to fool the queen now thwarted. In his anger, Rumplesnow stormed out of the palace and began the journey back towards his home in the forest. Unable to bear the humiliation of being discovered, he pulled the white rose from his lapel and lifted it to his nose, deeply inhaling its oddly metallic scent. By the time Rumplesnow reached his home, the poisons were already doing their job; he began coughing up blood and died shortly thereafter, never to be heard from again.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you for reading! Many thanks to sabaceanbabe for her beta work, and fnur for helping me bounce this idea around and for pre-reading. Also - thank you to everlarkrecs over on tumblr for setting up a fun challenge! :)


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